Starkville community members working to help food insecurity concerns

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Food insecurity continues to be a growing concern for several families here in Mississippi.

In Starkville, you may have noticed pantries filled with canned goods and nonperishable foods.

One local group, Starkville Strong has connected community members who are donating items to food banks.

The shelves are filled to the brim.

In the Golden Triangle, you may find small food pantries fully stocked…but in the next hour, the food could be gone.

For some families, it’s uncertain where their next hot meal will come from. That’s why Rex Buffington, the co-director of The Casserole Kitchen in Starkville is helping distribute meals and groceries to those in need.

Over the years, Buffington says it seems like the demand continues to grow as dozens of families are relying on their local food bank for assistance

“We have a lot of our friends and neighbors who are really struggling to have food on the table to nourish themselves the way they really need to it’s a big issue in our community,” said Buffington.

And with inflation concerns, it’s become costly for families to foot the bill at supermarkets.

“It’s really hard these days, especially the way these prices are and people just have limited resources and they have to stretch those as far as they can so it’s a challenge for people now to really have what they need,” said Buffington.

More community members are donating what they can to help combat the need.

22-year-old Landry Payne said she travels to different school campuses to educate young students about food insecurity and how their contributions are important.

“Now I like to go into elementary schools and kindergarten and those children don’t know about it unless you tell them and you don’t know about it when youre younger unless you’re dealing with it or unless you’re struggling and getting their friends involved and I love seeing their faces light up when they know that they can do something about it because kids are kids and they want to help,” said Payne.

It’s all about feeding the community one can at a time.

If you would like to help donate to the food pantries in town you can find Starkville Strong on Facebook for more information.